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Who: Sarah Joncas
What: Fresh out of the Box - A Monthly feature with young people doing inteesting things
Written by: Cassie Dowse

Link to Sarah on Mysapce
Link to Sarah on Live Journal.com

One local artist is using her paintbrush as, not only a passport to the world, but also as a looking glass into the souls of her subjects.

Sarah Joncas is a Hamilton-born artist, who at the age of 23 has already had her work shown in galleries in California, Seattle, Rome, and New York. While these accomplishments might satisfy some people, Sarah has the drive of a Casino.com champion, ambition of a Grand Prix driver and no intention of stopping there.

With only one course standing between her and her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Ontario College of Art and Design, this talented artist will soon have the professional training to back herself up. Her work has received critical acclaim in the art world, with her pieces turning heads around the globe.

Sarah's skills with painting female characters have hit new heights of boldness, creativity, and complexity. Her paintings offer a window into each girls personality, and showcase their mood or struggles with dramatic, and often dark undertones.

Sarah believes that an intentional quality in all her work includes strong somber emotions. "I've always been attracted to dramatic and gloomy kind of images and music, no matter how opposite I am to that, myself," she said. "I like the goose bumps I get from putting myself in that state of mind, as though I'm acting out a scene and trying on a character while I paint."

Music has played a part in her creative process. A recurring image for the past four years has been goldfish.

"Initially they were inspired by the song 'Wish You Were Here' by Pink Floyd," she said. The lyrics 'we're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year, running over the same old ground - what have we found? The same old fears' stood out to her at the age of 16.

"I kind of thought of them in a relationship to people, about cycles and routine, about domestication," she said. Now, the goldfish have taken on a new meaning. "Other times I saw them like guardians to my girls, reminding her of what's important or being like a light in the darkness - someone watching over her, but not interfering."

Sarah says that although she has previously focused primarily on the female figure, the background of each portrait is just as important.

"Over the past year with the expanding of the background in my paintings, it has opened up a greater sense of story," she added.

The story of each girl is rarely planned out, as intuition is the key to the most fun part of the whole process. "I like the mystery of not knowing...  like the pregnant moment!  You reach that climax where you know something really dramatic is about to happen, but never get the satisfaction of finding out what exactly", she said. "You're left to your imagination and curiosity, in a state of anticipation. That's always the best part of the book/movie for me."

Sarah has shows planned for the next year, including a feature at Art Basel this December in Miami, a solo show with the Roq La Rue gallery next February in Seattle, among many others. She also has ambitions to expand her skills in photography and sculpture.

For now, Sarah is looking forward to completing her education. "Maybe I'll go back to take courses just for fun - really learn and experiment without the pressure of needing to make specific grades," she said. "All I know and feel at the moment is that I want to keep painting and I want to be self-sustainable. Whatever else I can manage in that process is all icing."

 

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